


Winning Hearts, Minds, and Stomachs

by TheBrcklayer



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study, Female Friendship, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, I refuse to do it, If you want - Freeform, Lila Rossi Redemption, No Romance, Pastries, Platonic Female/Female Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Post-Episode: s01 Volpina, Slice of Life, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Way too much salt in this fandom, could be read as romance, enjoy me being sugar baby, lilanette, no salt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-26 20:08:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30111375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBrcklayer/pseuds/TheBrcklayer
Summary: Lila, on a whim, wanders into the Dupain-Cheng bakery hoping for a taste of home.Now why does she keep coming back, and more importantly why does she hate Marinette a little less?
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Lila Rossi
Comments: 12
Kudos: 50





	Winning Hearts, Minds, and Stomachs

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to Emperess yet again for the proofing job. Again, no, not making any money off this franchise.

Damn, she was like a stranger to this city. Far from taking it by storm, she felt like an outsider. For craving passion and glory, it seemed to be a long way away for her. _Una ragazza italiana a Parigi._

She stuck out like a sore thumb, her accent like a patch of oil in water or a lion in the jungle. It served as an identifying marker to all who met her. That she did not ‘belong’ here. 

Her day, had she been back home, would have started simply enough. Go to the local cafe, just before school and order a _brioche_ and some coffee. Have a quick pick me up before committing to the daily grind.

Of course, nobody here seemed to know just how to make a proper one. The French had a select set of recipes for their _brioche_ and hesitated to put in any passion in their work.

Bah, why did she even care? She wasn’t going to be here long anyways, her mom would soon take her back to Italy where she belonged. She could soon forget about these people.

Though, doubtfully, they’d soon forget about her. That sort of thing tended not to happen when you were called out by the city’s apparent idol. Yes, the city seemed to worship that little bug.

So what, did you just put on a red-spotted suit and suddenly adoration and praise were at your doorstep? _Miracoloso._ You wouldn’t catch her wearing that clown suit, even if that was what you had to do to win this city over.

 _“I even tried to wear the clown suit, apparently,”_ Lila mused to herself. _“Won some hearts and minds, even if I didn’t remember doing it. ...and even then, this didn’t last. She stole that from me too.”_

Her fists were clenched, her knuckles white as the new-fallen snow. 

_“So I wanted to impress a boy, doesn’t everyone?”_ Lila thought to herself with a shrug. _“Was that so wrong? Okay, so I stretched the truth_ **_a little_ ** _but he was worth it, right? Nonna always said to present yourself to the worthy as your best self. Well, what’s wrong with the side I presented to him right then as a superhero?”_ _  
_ _  
_ Half of the girls in Paris were probably throwing themselves at the Agreste kid anyways, like cheap floozies. Shameless really, it wasn’t like that was going to win him over. No, no, you had to be more subtle than that. Worm your way into his little life as a friend, enter his… cabal? Was that the right word? His circle of followers.

 _“But apparently Ladybug doesn’t just concern herself with supervillains, no instead she involves herself in every aspect of the lives of those she saves. Like a particularly overbearing Nonna if you ask me. Si comporta come un pezzo grosso totale. Give someone superpowers, and oh watch what happens. They all go to their head, like hot air gravitates towards a blimp. Her head swells like a blimp. Someone should pop her, watch her go down like a balloon.”_ _  
_ _  
_ Raw anger rushed through her again, her cheeks going a violent shade of red as her emotions threatened to overtake her again. She knew where this could lead, as apparently fury attracted an emotional predator. So Paris didn’t just have inferior desserts, it had all the drama of a supervillain as well.

Really, she would be leaving such a bad review!

 _“But… oh, what can a girl do?”_ Lila sighed, deflating and taking a moment to calm herself. As tempting as unleashing all holy wrath on Paris was… well, chances are she’d already committed social suicide for daring to drop Agreste Jr. off a national monument. _“It’s doubtful if I tried anything, Paris would love me for it. Let’s face it Rossi, your path to fame and glory just hit a massive pothole.”_

Oh, that was an interesting smell. It wafted through the breeze, reaching her nostrils as if to attempt a peace treaty. Perhaps Paris wasn’t so bad at all. Because _that_ if she wasn’t mistaken, was the smell of a very flavorful cannoli.

Similarly like she was in a cartoon, she floated towards the smell’s origin. as if she was on angel’s wings. Lila knew she had to at least try and track down its source. Then point and laugh at how badly they got the national pastry so wrong.

Through the bakery’s doors, she glided and _oooooohhhh_ that smell was heavenly. Only time would tell if the taste lived up to the promise she was apparently being offered. 

_“I must know!”_

She knew the likelihood of someone in Paris actually delivering on that promise was unlikely to say the least. But… well, apparently someone dared try. 

“Lila?”, a voice came, one she knew all too well.

“Dupain-Cheng?”, Lila’s head whipped around to face the girl, stunned.

Then a nasty smirk worked it way up her face, snark forcing itself past her lips. “...let me guess, you got tempted by heaven’s delights and waltzed in here only to find yourself, oh, too poor for this place.”  
  
“My father never charges exorbitant prices,” Dupain-Cheng replied to her, her lips thin and looking apparently insulted. 

...wait a tick, her father? ...wait, whose name had been over the front doors?  
  
Lila rushed outside, her eyes wide and a muffled curse under her breath. _“Well then!”_ _  
_ _  
_ “As I was saying,” Dupain-Cheng went on. “Everything in here has always been reasonably priced, better to get return customers that way. My parents never wanted to be ‘that’ bakery, the one known only for it’s snob appeal. All of our pastries have always been made with love!”  
  
“You sound like you work here,” Lila commented.

“I do actually!”, Dupain-Cheng replied, quite -understandably- proud of this fact.

“Well,” Lila snarked back leaving her money on the counter. “Your pastries may be made with love, but are they made _well?_ Because, gosh, all of that ‘love’ accounts for nothing if the pastries themselves are-”  
  
Before she could say anything more, creamy delight filled her mouth as delicious ricotta swarmed around past her lips. An angel’s choir was apparently singing to her. Today was one full of surprises. 

“So?”, Dupain-Cheng said, apparently having noticed her expression and sounding quite smug.

“Well, it’s not… terrible,” Lila grumbled as she continued feeding. “I will admit, you surprised me today. Maybe Paris won’t be so bad after all.”

“Well, I hope you’re happy,” Dupain-Cheng said to her, somewhat sympathetically. “You look like you could need a friend or two.”  
  
Lila snorted. “Don’t presume to know me.”  
  
“Buuuuuutttt…” 

The Italian sighed. “Compliments to you on the cannolo.”  
  
“Thank you!”, a mountain of a man who could only be the girl’s father peeked his head in, all covered in flour making him look as white as a ghost. 

Another sack was hefted over his shoulders. “I’m always happy to see someone likes our recipes, doubly so when it’s our cannolis. For some reason, they just haven’t been selling!”  
  
“A true crime!”, Lila replied, surprising even herself with the joy in her tone. No snark or bitterness burbled its way up. “They feel like a little taste of home!”  
  
The father grinned. “Yes, they’re an old family recipe, just like how madre used to make them!”  
  
For the first time, Lila noticed the slight accent in his words. “You’re Italian?”  
  
“Half!”, the elder Dupain-Cheng answered. “But a countryman through and through, Italian blood runs through my veins and I would give the world to see my homeland again just once.”

“I know the feeling…”, Lila admitted rather sadly. 

Even Dupain-Cheng gave her a smile full of pity, oddly enough.

“So you’re a whole _torrone_ of heritage eh?”, Lila went on, looking at the girl. “Chinese, French, Italian! I’ve seen soups less complicated than you!”  
  
“Yep, I’m a real melting pot!”, Dupain-Cheng replied in a tone that was obviously forced politeness. 

“Well, you’re always welcome here,” said the father, apparently missing his daughter’s freaked expression.

“Now, now papa, let’s not be so hasty!” Dupain-Cheng rushedly tried to discourage her father. “We barely know her!”  
  
“Ah, but I assume we’ll be seeing her again? I suspect we’ll make a regular customer out of her yet!”, said her father with an apparently knowing smile. “Besides, it would be wrong to deprive a fellow countrywoman a little piece of home!”

“Well…”, Dupain-Cheng sighed, rubbing a hand through her hair.

“Exactly, _Marinette._ Besides…”, Lila grinned. “I wouldn’t miss your pastries for the world!”

“So…”, Dupain-Cheng commented, sounding unsure and maybe a bit nervous at the prospect for some reason. A little forced smile worked its way up onto her face. “I guess we’ll be seeing you again sometime?”

“Quite!”

\-----

Indeed, Lila found herself returning to the bakery again though she wasn’t sure why honestly. Maybe it was to spite Dupain-Cheng? Clearly, tormenting her would be easy enough if she wasn’t safe in her own home.

...tormenting might have been too strong a word, honestly, given she had done little to deserve her ire. Aside from having an _obvious_ crush on Adrien. Though, _clearly_ he noticed the little Chinese girl about as often as he did herself.

“You know you’re the definition of hopeless right?”, Lila looked over the girl’s shoulder, gnawing on some _pasticciotto._ A traditional shortcrust filled with cream, made with a bit of lard. It was fairly fattening, so Lila had to watch herself. Nobody went for pudgy girls, least of all models on a strict diet.

“Mhmm?”, Marinette said, more focused on her math homework than anything else.

“You’re doing it wrong, you know that right?”, Lila went on, not really sure why she was interfering in this travesty. “You’ve got your tables set up all wrong.”  
  
“And you care because…?”, Marinette replied to her, looking clueless as to why suddenly the Italian would bother showing interest.

“Well, we may get paired up in some project someday, and I can’t be seen with someone as hopeless as you,”, Lila said, making a motion with her hand to ‘move aside. “Budge up, please.”  
  
“Aaaaah, I see,” Marinette gave her a look. “This is all about your own reputation then, you and Chloe would be like two peas in a pod. Two peas in an Adrien obsessed pod.”

“You have no room to talk, Miss Smitten with the looks I’ve seen you give him,” Lila replied dryly in no mood for her classmate’s nonsense. “But oh, I don’t know why I try to help you. You’re obviously not in a listening mood. If you don’t want my help… well then I won’t give it.”

Heading back to her table, she found her pastry a lot more interesting.

“I’m glad for the help I guess,” Marinette mumbled. “It’s just… I’m surprised you’re offering.”  
  
“Well, this is apparently about my reputation…”, Lila snarked, unable to stop herself.

“Okay, yeah, I regret that as soon as I said it,” her apparent archnemesis sighed, tossing a momentary look skywards. “I take it back, I’m sorry.”  
  
“Oh no, you’re quite right. I do want a reputation,” Lila returned, owning the insult as she tended to do. “I am many things, Dupain-Cheng but I do not intend to be known as ‘the new kid’ forever.”

“I’m… sorry,” her now tablemate replied, her eyes _unbearably_ soft and kind. It made Lila want to puke honestly. “I can’t imagine how hard it is, having to pick everything up and move to a new country as you did.”  
  
“No, you can’t imagine,” Lila snorted, rolling her eyes and trying to hide the ever-present bitterness in her tone. “It’s not something you’ll ever go through, given your family seems quite keen on staying here in Paris. Unless, of course, your father wants to return home.”  
  
“Well, if he did, I’d support him,” Marinette replied. 

“Ever the darling daughter.”

“Well, yes…”, Marinette seemed to stammer. “But i-in any event, I’m sorry that you had to go through all that.”  
  
“Oh no, it didn’t sting, I am proud of madre for her job taking off,” Lila said, hoping that didn’t sound too much like a lie. “I did end up making a splash in Paris anyways!”  
  
“Just… not a good one,” Marinette winced. “I’m sorry you had to meet Ladybug like that, usually she’s so nice.”

“Yes, I’m sure,” her fellow Italian returned in a dry tone. “I’m quite sure. Anyways, I’m not sure what you’re so sorry about, it’s not like you know her. Like you have a line to her or something. It’s not like you’re the Rick Jones to her Incredible Hulk.”  
  
“You read comics?”, Marinette asked, her eyes widening in surprise as she took it in.

“Yes, doesn’t everyone?”, Lila replied, maybe a bit too defensively for her tastes. “Don’t let it get out, okay?”  
  
“I mean…”, Marinette shrugged. “I fail to see the problem.”  
  
“I guess you were never the weird kid then,” Lila said, thinking back. “The girl who threatened to out-nerd the boys. Guys are always so territorial!”  
  
“I know plenty of guys who would love to know a girl who loves comics,” Marinette replied. “Nathaniel for example…”

“Well, bravo for you. Your guy friends must be a rare breed!”, Lila praised. “But in my experiences, they’re usually intimidated whenever a girl is just muscling in on their territory.”

“Well…”, Marinette said her resolve was apparently weakening and Lila sensing her chance to strike.

“Oh, so you do know,” the Italian went on. “Tell me, what does it feel like to be the only girl in a den full of geeks. The only bitch in a pack of wolves?”

“W-Well, I wouldn’t go that far!”, Marinette laughed nervously. “Most of the time, they welcome me.”  
  
“I heard the time most of the time.”  
  
“W-Well, there was that time with the Ultimate Mecha Strike tournament and Max…”, her tablemate was playing with the strands of her hair nervously.  
  
“Ah, see!”, Lila didn’t hesitate, though a bit of sympathy peeked itself through. “There you go. Boys are threatened when a girl tends to out nerd them. You know it, and I know it.”

She couldn't hate the girl right now. Only pity her.

“Hmmmph,” was Marinette’s only response, turning up her nose at her.

“Sooooo,” her tablemate started with a smirk. “I’m guessing that’s a no with me helping you with your tables then?”

Marinette made an odd sound, like a mixture of a chirrup and a shriek, apparently only just now remembering that. Another victory achieved, Lila thought to herself. What an odd sound though, it was rather inhuman. However, she would admit that it took a truly talented person to correctly imitate the sound of dial-up rebooting.

“...oh, alright, fine,” the half-Chinese girl sighed, budging up next to her. “What am I missing?”

“Well…”, Lila started before something struck her as she remembered her apparent newfound friend’s earlier words. “...wait, you know Ladybug don’t you?”

“We’re still on this?”, Marinette sighed, with Lila groaning.

The Italian rubbed her temples before saying, “...you’re, oh god you’re Ladybug’s own personal Bucky Barnes aren’t you?”  
  
“Hey, don’t mock Bucky, he’s cool!”  
  
“Yeah, only _after_ he became the cybonic Winter Soldier,” Lila scoffed before sighing wistfully. “Still, we stan Sebastian Stan hard don’t we?”  
  
“We stan proud.”

\-----

Weirdly, she kept coming back. Despite the fact that people like Marinette usually rankled her, there was just _something_ she couldn’t hate about this girl.

“Back again dear?”, Marinette’s mother, a slightly short and somewhat chubby woman asked of her with what could be described as a knowing grin. Damn her. 

“Apparently so…”, Lila had to resist the urge to grumble. 

“I’m so happy an actual Italian approves of my husband’s pastries,” Sabine -was that it?- went on, manning the counter today. “It’s so rare to see someone actually from Italy in our store.”

“Seriously?” Lila asked, honestly stunned and raising an eyebrow with a _brioche_ in hand. Rich and tender, the puffy bread felt warm in her hand with the cream practically melting inside her mouth. “I’d have honestly thought you would have gotten more, given half of Paris seems to be singing your praises.”  
  
She looked at a nearby newspaper, which raved over the patisserie in a soaring review. 

“Oh, well, what can you do then?”, Sabine sighed. “You can build it, and hope they will come, but in the end it’s all down to luck. Maybe if Ladybug herself sings our praises we’ll get more customers, hmm?”  
  
“Well, Paris does seem to listen to her every word,” Lila replied, trying to disguise the bitterness in her tone. “Like it’s gospel or something. Come one, come all, hear the Voice of Paris.”

Maybe she didn’t disguise it very well.

“Hmmm. Well, one can hope,” Sabine mused to herself, apparently missing it. “Right?”

Now, she could treat herself really. Gnawing on the bread, she tried not to look too much like a wild animal as she tore into it with strawberry delights washing over her tongue. Scarlet red filling drenched her mouth, like the blood of Christ itself.

These pastries pulled her in like a magnet, and yeah maybe she should have been watching her diet a bit more but Lila couldn’t help herself. She had a bit of a sweet tooth, and each little delight brought in a little taste of home. This was the next best thing to actually being there.

Alas, her mother seemed to like it here and so did her bosses. She was apparently doing her job well, and not moved to another country to sing Italy’s praises. The agency, apparently, had found the best woman for the job to build bridges between nations. 

Meaning, the cobblestone streets of home and the high-class fashions were but a distant memory. Oh well, at least everyone still drove terribly here in Paris. That was one thing that didn’t seem to change from country to country, with people who shouldn’t have a license and yet did.

Even now, she could hear the organized chaos of the streets echoing from outside as the cacophony of horns threatened to drive her deaf. 

“So much for a quiet read,” Lila muttered to herself, putting down her book even as Marinette entered the room. “...you don’t think the Evil Bowtie couldn’t bother to create a traffic-themed villain, could he? Like, someone who wants to clean up the streets?”  
  
Marinette was giving her a look, something that later she would work out as bewildered but right now Lila mistook it as faintly horrified.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, but there’s plenty of road rage out there. It wouldn’t be too far out to imagine someone would want to make traffic flow better. Am I right or am I _right,_ hmm?” Lila continued to babble, moving on to wild gesticulations. “Like… like… I’m trying to study here! How do you do it Marinette?”  
  
“Eh, you get used to it?”, her friend shrugged. The Italian honestly wasn’t sure when she’d stopped wanting to hate her, and call her by the name of a friend. “I suppose? Like, I’ve mostly managed to tune it all out by this point.”

“I envy your abilities,” Lila drawled. “Still, if you’re listening, Evil Bowtie, then get it done. Hell, akumatize me and I’ll do it! Plenty of these _idioti_ shouldn’t have been issued licenses and yet they got them anyway!”

There was more gesticulating. 

“...you know you’re the first person I know of who actually _wants_ to be akumatized,” Marinette gave her a strange look. “Also, Evil Bowtie?”  
  
“...you mean you didn’t know?” Lila asked, surprised. “I thought you were Italian.”  
  
“One third,” Marinette corrected her. “I’m also largely Chinese, but I don’t know the language.”  
  
“Woooooowwww, that’s sad,” Lila replied before saying: “...oh, well, uh, basically Papillon’s name doesn’t mean what he thinks it does. It means ‘insect’ in French, yeah true, but in Italian…”

“Huh, well he is stylish, so I guess it fits…”, Marinette considered.

“Uh, no he isn’t,” Lila begged to differ. “He looks like a pimp.”  
  
“It’s the cane isn’t it?”, her friend mused, before nodding in agreement.

“And it looks like he’s wearing a condom on his head”, Lila drawled before Marinette broke out into a giggle fit with Lila soon to follow. The two continued laughing, filling the bakery with the sounds of delight.

_“You know, I guess she’s not too terrible after all.”_

\-----

It took all of Lila’s power just to not tell a story or two, honestly. Really, it did! But she’d been attempting to make a good second impression for a few weeks now. All lies came undone eventually, even as fun as they were to tell. Lead people on for a bit, string them along into a grand narrative.

But… well, telling lies apparently had earned her the ire of Paris’ most popular superhero and while she didn’t care what Ladybug honestly thought, Lila knew the rest of her class did. They worshipped the very ground she walked on. Well, fair enough, considering all but Marinette had apparently been saved by her at least once.

Okay, maybe she wasn’t one to talk but she honestly thought some anger management courses were in order for this class. Really, it shouldn’t be so easy for them to be turned into supervillains by an emotional predator.

So, here she was sticking to that old motto ‘the truth shall set you free’. Maybe it hadn’t liberated her just yet but nobody hated her. Small steps. Soon fame would be hers.

 _“La gatta frettolosa ha fatto i gattini ciechi,”_ Lila thought to herself, remembering an old proverb that her Nonna loved. While she wasn’t exactly giving birth to kittens, it was best not to rush things. _“Perhaps if I take things slow, maybe even_ **_Adrien_ ** _would come to love me.”_ _  
_ _  
_ Doubtful, given he seemed to notice no one but everything worth waiting for required a bit of work.

 _“Senza tentazioni, senza onore. As the saying goes,”_ she went on to think, eying up her competition. There was Marinette, obviously, but there was also Chloe. So not that much competition honestly. One was hesitant, and one was a brat. _“All the same though, I wish Marinette the best of luck. She’s nice enough, I suppose and Adrien is apparently the perfect angel.”_ _  
_ _  
_ “You should speak to him,” a bit of friendly advice never hurt anyone, the Italian reasoned. “I’m sure if you just approached him as a friend, he wouldn’t mind.”  
  
“Girl, you’re asking me to keep fighting a losing battle there,” Marinette sighed, a bit of Cesaire leaking into her speech. “Y-Yeah, he’s nice and all but I go all weird whenever I try to talk to him. Worst luck ever right?” 

“Maybe you’re putting him on too high a pedestal,” Lila shrugged, with her friend apparently staring at her like she’d grown a second head. “What I mean is, you treat him like the rest of Paris treats Ladybug. Like he walks on water.”  
  
“But, he’s just… just so perfect…”, Marinette sighed, in a tone that was obviously lovesick.

“True, he is, at least to the admiring eye but maybe you should inspect him a little closer. He’s a teenage boy, Mari,” Lila said, priding herself on her new nickname. “He likes pizza and staying up all night to play video games. He’s ruled by his hormones, in what world does any of that sound attractive?”

“Well, now that you mention it…”, her friend seemed to consider.

“Exactly, yes,” the Italian smirked before giving what could be considered a kind sympathetic smile. “Look, I’ve accepted I have to wait before he’ll notice me. At least in a mature fashion, not notice me as in ‘hey, I’ve got a great figure!’. Give him time. _Le cose buone arrivano a chi sa aspettare,_ right?”  
  
“R-Right…” Marinette admitted, her voice a bit of a stutter as she accepted her new truth. It sorta crushed Lila to open her friend’s eyes but she had to accept that. Reality was often disappointing, better to realize this than somewhere later down the road. “...uh, thanks I guess.”

Yet, some part of her didn’t seem to consider this all that much of a victory. Maybe it was a bit cruel to crush the crush, even if realistically Adrien wouldn’t notice either of them for a few more years. 

“Hey, maybe I’m wrong,” she said, reaching out in sympathy to gently grasp Marinette’s shoulder. “Maybe he’s not like other teenage boys.”

“I can hope right…?”, Marinette asked wistfully.

“No,” Lila corrected her. “We can hope.”

\-----

To the unobservant eye, nobody would guess that she and Marinette were friends. They sniped at each other, a snarky remark always at their lips. But when it came down to it, weirdly, Lila didn’t despise the girl.

Yeah, she was a goody-two-shoes that a part of her wanted to corrupt but for whatever reason she simply couldn’t hate. She was like that puppy you got for Christmas, slightly annoying but loveable all the same.

It helped that she made really great pastries.

“You know there’s no way you’re going to keep this party a secret from Marinette right?”, Lila couldn’t help but observe. “There’s not a single good liar amongst you all.”  
  
Marinette’s friend circle was nice enough, really. Maybe a bit on the weird side, but she could see why her probably only friend liked them.

Her only friend… wow, that was sad. Then again, it wasn’t like she’d ever stayed in one place long enough to make real friends. Or cared enough to actually reach out, actually come to think of it. She’d always considered most other people beneath her.

 _“Well, when in Paris…”_ the Italian sucked in a breath, realizing she couldn’t be realistically lonely forever. _“Come on Rossi, be brave. It’s not like making new friends is going to hurt.”_

“She probably already knows, actually,” Lila went on. “It’d be hard to hide the smell of a good cake in that house.”

“Maybe she does yeah, but it won’t ruin the fun of a good party,” Alya went on. “Especially if I can manage to swing that certain surprise guest into coming!”

“Aaaaaah, playing matchmaker again are we?”, Lila grinned, a part of her jealous that _Marinette_ got to have Adrien come to her party. “I see!”  
  
“A girl can hope,” Alya said. “Maybe while presenting his gift to my girl, Marinette will trip and fall on Adrien and their lips will connect and all manner of feelings will come out!”  
  
“Or they’ll just be awkward for a few days,” Lila drawled, enjoying being the bitingly sarcastic one here. Every friend group needed the mean bisexual after all! When looks were sent her way, she said with an unrepentant tone, “Well, I’m just being realistic here. This isn’t a fairy tale.”  
  
“But it could be!”, the blond, who Lila didn’t know piped up. “Operation Secret Garden will become a thing!”  
  
...riiiiight, while a part of her was honestly curious the other part feared for her sanity.

“Give it time…”, Alya patted her friend’s shoulder in support.

Lila in any event found herself wandering on a walk back to the bakery. Maybe to keep Marinette’s parents from spilling the beans too early.

On the side of the road was a woman, her moped apparently broken down. She was swearing in furious Italian. Well, let it never be said that Lila Rossi would never stop to help a fellow countrywoman in distress!  
  
Not just in a case of national pride but Marinette would never let her hear the end of it.

“Oh… my _nipotina_ will be so disappointed in me if I don’t show up to her party on time!” the surprisingly cool old lady muttered to herself as she tried to work out what was the matter. 

“...wait, are you Marinette’s Nonna?”  
  
“Oh, you know my darling _nipotina?_ Are you one of her school friends?”, the older woman’s face lit up in joy apparently delighted in meeting a fellow Italian. Switching over to her native language, she continued with,“Oh, it’s so nice to finally meet you, truly! You can call me Gina, dear. My darling has talked to me about her friends over Zoom but I’ve never gotten a chance to meet any of them. Now I’ll hopefully get a chance to meet all of them! Including maybe that boy she likes.”

She giggled.

“I’m sure you’ll like them,” Lila nodded. “Here, let me hail a cab. I wouldn’t want you to miss your granddaughter’s birthday party.”

“Ah, but I do worry,” Gina sighed. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen her, actually. I don’t know how much has changed! I honestly thought she was turning ten for a while until I spoke with her. Oh, my gifts may not even interest her!”  
  
“I’m sure it’s the thought that counts, right?”, Lila considered. “When it’s from you, I don’t think Marinette could hate anything. In fact, you just showing up at all would probably be the best gift in itself!”

“Oh yes, you’re quite right!”, Gina agreed. “Maybe I am overreacting! Thank you, dear!”

“You’re welcome.” 

Lila didn’t honestly know why her soul felt a bit lighter, even as she guessed she might have just saved someone from becoming akumatized. Who knows what might have happened if she hadn’t stepped in?  
  
Hmmmm, maybe being nice was in a way its own reward? She didn’t have to become famous _right now,_ did she? But whenever she did, it would be nice to have people speak up for her and tell the world that they knew her back then.

Maybe there was an extra pep in her step right now. It didn’t hurt to start making connections through actual honesty.

Maybe she didn’t have all of Paris’ love and adoration, at least right now. But… for the time she did have someone who did appreciate her. Lila actually had to resist the urge to laugh. She actually owed Ladybug an honest thank you! 

Without her… she might not have even considered talking to Marinette. Who knew what might have happened then? 

**Author's Note:**

> Resources: https://www.walksofitaly.com/blog/food-and-wine/an-introduction-to-italian-pastries-and-cakes
> 
> https://anamericaninrome.com/wp/2017/12/best-italian-proverbs/
> 
> In any event, this was an... interesting write for several reasons. One, getting inside Lila's head. It should come as no surprise that I'm not a fan of her. Then, who is? I wanted to strike a good balance between loveable and just bitchy enough.
> 
> Not sure my Italian is up to snuff though, I did have to consult Google Translate and even that surprise surprise slipped up in places.
> 
> Honestly, I don't get Lila. She rings all of the bells of a sociopath to me, and that's explanation enough I suppose. But I want to be curious. Did her mother being away so often play a part? To say nothing of her father who we still know nothing about.
> 
> In any event, enjoy a rare moment of me being sweet to her and please leave a comment and bookmark this if you can. Also, you a fan of Ladybug, and are you searching for a place to share your love for the series? Join us here at the [Miraculous Fanworks Discord! ](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks)


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